driftwood
by skeleton houses
Summary: Len is an introvert, and prefers to stay that way. He dislikes the attention and enjoys taking advantage of his quiet loneliness. Until, one day, he lets himself be immersed in the presence of the mysterious transfer student, Rin. And with that, she opens his eyes to the reality of being driftwood. RinLen.


**driftwood**

* * *

_Cold, dark sea,  
Wrapping its arms around me.  
Pulling me down to the deep,  
All eyes on me._

_I pushed you away,_  
_Although I wished you could stay._  
_So many words left unsaid,_  
_But I'm all out of breathe._

—Sinking Man, Of Monsters and Men

* * *

She's the new transfer student in his school; a petite girl with cool blue eyes and short, honey blonde hair, who shows limited emotion and speaks in a small, yet smooth voice. Len watches her discreetly, as she writes her name carefully onto the blackboard. Rin Kagamine.

The teacher allocates her to the window seat in front of where Len sits, and she walks to her desk with her head up, eyes meeting the other student's curious gazes. But Len quickly looks back down to his book, pretending to be engrossed in what he's reading, shying away from meeting her stare.

Rin Kagamine, he muses. She seems too confident to be a transfer student; it's a little unusual. Maybe she's moved several times, or something. Len's observations could always be wrong, though. He tries to steal another glance at her, as she rests her head on her hand, gazing out the window. Her eyes seem occupied, like she's off in another world, or wishing she could be.

Len thinks he'll never have anything to do with her, so he looks back down at his novel, and continues to read until the end of homeroom.

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He really wouldn't think of himself as an outcast, not really. He could be popular or whatever if he wanted to, but he just didn't have the patience or willingness to. It's just not his _thing_, the thought of having heaps of friends or being over appreciated just for the fact that he hangs out with the 'cool kids'. It irks him, makes him feel sort of uncomfortable inside. He likes the time to himself, the fact that he can do whatever he wants without having to argue with anyone else to have his way.

And also, he likes the fact that in this position; this position that puts him in the outer rings of the social circle in his school, he realises and sees a lot more than he probably should.

One of those things happens to be that girl, Rin. Len hasn't talked to her, ever, in all the time she's sat in front of him in homeroom for the past month, but he knows her like his best friend. It's not like he _wants_ to, anyhow, that's just weird. He just notices things, small things that normal people tend to ignore.

She's probably going to become an outcast, sooner or later, the way she's going. Yeah, at the moment she sits with Miku—that overtalkative tealette who's constantly being chased after by the school's population of males—but she always distances herself from whatever is happening, staring off into space or listening to music, or something like that. Soon Miku will get sick of her silence and give the poor girl the flick; that's if Rin doesn't decide to leave first.

He notices she also doesn't wear makeup, or roll-up her skirt like most girls do. Rin's pretty, and he thinks she knows it. So she doesn't worry too much about it.

Len decides he needs to find better things to do. He's starting to sound like a stalker.

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During lunch on a Tuesday, Len decides to practice piano for his prac coming up in his next music lesson. He isn't the best player ever. His hands always get clammy and slippery, making it hard for him to touch the keys without his fingers tumbling clumsily across them. Everyone thinks he's great, but he isn't, really; just practices a lot. Maybe too much. He does it too much to the extent that he puts off important assignments and study and ends up having to stay up until the early hours of the morning finishing them. It's not good for your health, his mother says, but nothing ever is, really.

He hears the sound of a creaking door in the middle of his practice, but doesn't think much of it. The music classrooms are old; so everything groans and creaks. He sort of expects it. But it isn't the wind or the sounds of the decaying building this time.

When Len finishes up his last song after glancing at the clock and realising the time, he leaves the piano room to find the honey blonde hair of Rin Kagamine sitting up against the wall of the music classroom. She lifts her head slowly from the sketchbook she's scribbling in, their eyes meeting for the first time.

Len wonders why she's _here_ of all places, but that doesn't matter. He doesn't say anything or question her motives; just forces a smile out of habit and walks away, feeling her artic eyes bore into his back until he rounds the corner and she can no longer watch him.

She's weird. She's weird and Len doesn't know what to think of it.

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The same thing happens again for a while: Len would go to the music room to practice or just play whatever, and he'd come out to find that Rin girl sitting outside, sketching or whatever. He doesn't know what it means; whether she's claimed the secluded hallways by the piano rooms or she comes here for some other reason, whatever that is.

On the third occasion of this, the transfer student decides to make conversation, somewhat—"Nobody really comes here but you, why's that?" she asks dismissively when he strides past.

It's maybe the first time he's heard her speak properly, which is surprising. She has a nice voice.

He raises his eyebrows at her in amusement. "I guess they have better things to do during their lunch," he mentions. "Why? Am I bothering you?"

The girl stares at him, expressionless. "No. Your playing is quite relaxing." And like she's embarrassed, she looks down quickly and pretends to be busy sketching, so he can't give a reply.

Len frowns to himself. Huh, whatever. Girls are weird.

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sorry it's disappointingly short but so is my patience nowadays.

please R&R or not if you want.


End file.
